Sucking the finger

For the last 6 days Maxim was cutting on the number of his feedings. He went from his usual 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners (8 meals) to a slightly easier 3 breakfasts 2 lunches and 2 dinners (7 meals). Probably he wasn’t eating any less, but just less often. His sucking powers increase from day to day.

Today though he was misbehaving throughout the day. There was probably too much gases accumulating in his guts, so he couldn’t sleep. He was crying and moving all the time which is one sure way to make him hunger. He went back to his 8 meals a day routine.

I was calming him down, when I remembered that I read somewhere that one can use the finger instead of the nipple to calm the baby down without feeding him. I was anxious. I washed my hands, checked my nails and put touch Maxim’s lips with my index finger. He immideately “ate” it and started sucking it. I was surprised about how much power a small baby like him can generate. He basically controlled my finger. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t pull it out of his mouth. I couldn’t turn it. I couldn’t bend it. It wasn’t painful or scary though. It was weird. He lost interest in my finger in about 10 seconds and released me.